Fire Extinguishing Roof Soaker
The present invention is a spraying system that extinguishes flying embers that may land on a roof from brush fires or forest fires. This includes a submersible pump at the bottom of a well that is attached to a supply pipe that allows water to be pumped into a reservoir. Another submersible pump is inside the reservoir that pumps water thru a supply pipe that is attached to the roof. This area is called a water station that may also be equipped with a generator for a backup power source. The supply pipe has pipe couplings attached at certain intervals and has sprayers installed into the couplings. These sprayers will then give off an adequate amount of water to soak down the entire roof area in the event of an approaching fire. All of this is assembled and placed in specially designed roof fasteners that are installed throughout the entire hip and ridge of the roof.
This application claims the benefit of earlier priority based upon the filing of a provisional application Ser. No. 60/978,329, which was filed on Oct. 8, 2007.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to a fire extinguishing roof soaker.
2. Background
Wildfires are extremely common in many places around the world, including many forested areas of the United States and Canada. In areas that are particularly susceptible to wildfires the climates are sufficiently wet so as to allow for the growth of trees and brush that will ultimately fuel the fires, but also experience exceptional dry periods during the summer and fall months, thus leading to conditions that are perfect for widespread fires. There are a number of different reasons that these fires start, but regardless of how they start they pose a serious threat to those who live in the path of such a fire.
For many years the policy of the United States Forest Service was to suppress all fires by vigorously fighting fires and attempting to put them out as soon as possible. This policy unfortunately led to the unintended consequence of causing more severe wildfires. This happened because rather than allowing fires to burn up highly combustible materials the fires were extinguished, thereby allowing combustible materials to build up over time. So when a large scale fire would break out there would be a tremendous amount of fuel, which would lead to raging fires that soon managed to get out of control.
Focus in recent years has shifted from the suppression of any and all fires to embrace the understanding that fires play a vital role in the ecosystem. This shift in philosophy is not particularly good news for homeowners, particularly those who have relocated from urban areas to rural areas most likely to be hit by wildfires. Therefore, as rural areas increasingly undergo greater development it is necessary for homeowners to take steps to protect their home in the event of a future wildfire.
During a wildfire it is quite common for government officials to order mandatory evacuations with little or no warning. Thus, if a homeowner is going to take preventive measures to protect a home located in an area susceptible to wildfires the measures must be taken well in advance of any possible threat.
Heretofore there have been a number of solutions that have attempted to provide fire suppression systems for use in homes. Some of these systems extend along a peak of a roof of a building and along an underside of eaves of the building, while others run pipes along the ridge and hip of a building to release water onto the roof of a building to prevent the roof and building from catching fire. These and other known solutions fail to meet the needs of homeowners.
It would be desirable to have a fire suppression device capable of being mounted on the roof of a building that is maintenance free after installation and which can be installed under roofing materials. Furthermore, it would be desirable to have a device that does not require any penetrations being made in the roofing materials.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention advantageously fills the aforementioned deficiencies by providing a fire suppression and extinguishing system for installation on a roof of a building that is maintenance free and that can be easily installed or reinstalled under roofing materials, and which further requires no penetrations in the roofing materials.
The present invention spraying system is used to suppress and extinguish fires, and is particularly useful to prevent flying embers from a wildfire or brush fire from landing on a roof and causing the home to burn. In order to provide this desired functionality the present invention includes a submersible pump that is lowered into a water source, such as but not limited to a well, a swimming pool, or a pond. This pump is attached to a supply pipe that allows water to be pumped into a reservoir. Another submersible pump is located inside the reservoir and pumps water thru a supply pipe that is preferably attached to a roof, but may be attached elsewhere on or around a building or structure. This reservoir apparatus, sometimes referred to as the water station, is also preferably equipped with a generator to provide a backup power source.
The supply pipe leading from the reservoir has pipe couplings attached at certain intervals and has sprayers installed into the couplings. These sprayers will then give off an adequate amount of water to soak down the entire roof area in the event of an approaching fire. All of this is assembled and placed in specially designed roof fasteners that are installed thru the entire hip and ridge of the roof.
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are intended to be read in conjunction with both this summary, the detailed description and any preferred and/or particular embodiments specifically discussed or otherwise disclosed. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of illustration only and so that this disclosure will be thorough, complete and will fully convey the full scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
With fasteners 80 and 90, installation would occur as follows: the flat plate of the fastener is screwed to the decking of the roof with screws (not shown), preferably wood screws. Then the utility water supply fastener, either horizontal fastener 80 and/or vertical fastener 90 is primed with asphalt roof primer to clean and prepare the fastener surface for application of a layer of plastic roof cement, preferably a relatively thin layer, that is optimally applied over the entire utility water supply pipe fastener 80 and/or 90. The shingles are installed over the utility water supply pipe fastener 80 and/or 90, preferably with ¼″ roofing nails, although other nails could be used. This creates a sandwiched area between the plastic roof cement and the asphalt underlayment of the shingle to fuse and bond the shingles to the fasteners so the only visible part of the utility water supply pipe fastener as shown in
Shown in
The installed present invention fire extinguishing roof soaker system 10 is best shown in
While the present invention has been described above in terms of specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, and which are intended to be and are covered by both this disclosure and the appended claims. Specifically, various specific measurements are provided, such as for example the size of various pipes. These measurements are intended to be illustrative and to convey the preferences of the inventor, and are not intended to be limiting or suggest that the use of components of different sizes and shapes are outside the scope of the present invention. It is indeed intended that the scope of the invention should be determined by proper interpretation and construction of the appended claims and their legal equivalents, as understood by those of skill in the art relying upon the disclosure in this specification and the attached drawings.
Claims
1. A roof mounted fire suppression system, comprising:
- a water source;
- a pump having a water intake associated with said water source;
- a water distribution system comprising lengths of connected piping, said piping being connected to said pump and including sprinkler elements mounted along said piping for distributing water from said water distribution system when said pump is activated; and,
- fastener means for fastening said connected piping to said roof, said fastener means including a base element having length and breadth and a slight thickness, and being resiliently formable to match the shape of a roof section pitch where said fastener is to be installed, said base element being capable of accepting piercing attaching devices there through that pass through said base element and fixedly attach said base element to said roof section pitch, said fastener means further including an upright fork means extending from an upper surface of said base element, said fork means adapted to connect a segment of said connected piping to said roof section pitch.
2. A roof mounted fire suppression system as in claim 1, wherein:
- said fork means includes a pair of upwardly oriented arms that are positioned alongside an inserted segment of said connected piping and are secured to said inserted segment by a top plate that connects between said upwardly oriented arms, surrounding said inserted segment, and is respectively attached to each of said arms.
3. A roof mounted fire suppression system as in claim 1, wherein:
- said fork means is an inverted U shape element including spaced apart legs that extend downwardly from a connected and downwardly notched mid-section, said spaced apart legs connecting to said base element, and said notched mid-section including opposed sides that are positioned alongside an inserted segment of said connected piping and are secured to said inserted segment by a top plate that surrounds said inserted segment and connects between said opposed sides.
4. A fastener for mounting a segment of pipe to a roof pitch, comprising:
- a base element having length and breadth and a slight thickness, and being resiliently formable to match the shape of said roof pitch where said fastener is to be installed, said base element being capable of accepting piercing attaching devices there through that pass through said base element and fixedly attach said base element to said roof section pitch, said fastener further including an upright fork means extending from an upper surface of said base element, said fork means adapted to connect said segment of pipe.
5. A method of mounting a segment of pipe to a roof, comprising the steps of:
- selecting a fastener means suitable for a roof pitch to which said length of pipe is to be installed, said fastener means including a base element having length and breadth and a slight thickness, and being resiliently formable to match the shape of said roof pitch where said fastener is to be installed, said base element being capable of accepting piercing attaching devices there through that pass through said base element and fixedly attach said base element to said roof section pitch, said fastener means further including an upright fork means extending from an upper surface of said base element, said fork means adapted to connect said segment of pipe to said roof section pitch;
- spreading a thin layer of roofing cement on a roof contacting underside of said base element;
- laying said base element against said roof pitch and attaching said base element to said roof pitch using piercing attaching devices that pass though said base element and into said roof pitch;
- applying modular roofing materials over said base element and around said fork element according to their instructions; and,
- placing said pipe segment into said upright fork element of said fastener means and securing said pipe segment to said fork element.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 30, 2008
Publication Date: Apr 9, 2009
Patent Grant number: 7828069
Inventor: Allan W. Lee (Lehigh Acres, FL)
Application Number: 12/242,498
International Classification: A62C 35/00 (20060101); F16L 3/00 (20060101);